Schafer announced the fight during a guest appearance at the Dec. 14 Gladiator Cage Fighting event in Milwaukee, Wisc.

UFC 93 takes place Jan. 17 at The 02 in Dublin, Ireland, and airs live on pay per view.

Mendes was originally expected to fight former IFL fighter Andre Gusmao at UFC 93, though the reason for Gusmao’s departure from the card is unknown. As of Monday afternoon, the UFC had formally announced neither match-up.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) could not immediately reach Schafer for confirmation that the bout had been signed.

The UFC already announced a full UFC 93 televised main card, so the Scahfer-Mendes fight will likely take place on the night’s un-aired preliminary card.

Schafer last fought in September at UFC Fight Night 15, where he defeated hometown fighter Alexander at the Omaha, Neb. event. It was his first back in the UFC after he left the organization for two bouts (and two wins) with the Wisconsin-based Gladiators Cage Fighting organization.

Since back-to-back losses to Michael Bisping and Stephan Bonnar, Schafer, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, has now won three straight fights — all by first-round stoppage.

He’ll now meet Mendes, who will also look to rebound from a loss in his UFC debut. After stringing together an 11-fight win streak fighting throughout Europe, Mendes debuted at UFC 84 and suffered a first-round submission loss (via strikes) to top 205-pound contender Thiago Silva.

For the latest on UFC 93, which features a main event between Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.

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